Duplicating machine



April 8, 1941.

R. J. COPELAND ET AL DUPLICATING MACHINE Filed March 29, 1940 2Sheets-Sheet l Im/en tors. erfJCa oe/ana/ Ernest LIB/com,

April 1941- R. J. COPELAND ET AL 2,.Z3ZEM8 DUPLICATING MACHINE FiledMarch 29, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 8, 1941 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE DUPLICATING MACHINE Robert J. Copeland, Toronto, Ontario,and Ernest J. Bloore, Brampton, Ontario,- Canada; said Bloore assignorto said Copeland Application March 29, 1940, Serial No. 326,706

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in duplicating machines of thetype in which successive copies are obtained by first preparing a mastersheet on which the matter to be duplicated is superposed in a substancewhich is soluble in a special volatile fluid and the copies are made bymoistening the successive copy sheets with such fluid and they are thenbrought into engagement with the master sheet and an impression or printis received therefrom.

Machines for holding the master sheet on the surface of a rotatingcylinder and feeding the copy sheets in contact with a moistening deviceto apply the special fluid required to the surface thereof so thatcopies may be made with great rapidity therefrom are known, and theprincipal object of the present invention is to provide a machine ofthis class of greatly simplified form which may be made available atvery low cost.

and which may be very readily handled in the operation of producingmultiple copies.

A further and important object is to provide an improved means forfeeding the volatile fluid to the surface which is adapted to apply thevolatile fluid to the copy sheets, said feeding means being particularlyadapted to conserve the volatile fluid and to avoid losses due tounnecessary handling.

A further object is to provide a duplicating machine in which the meansfor manipulating the pressure roller for holding the copy sheets intocontact with the master sheet in the printing operation may be readilyaltered or adjusted.

The principal features of the invention consist in the novelconstruction and arrangement of parts whereby the master sheet-holdingcylinder, which is rotatably driven by a gear-connested hand crank, isprovided with removable cam surfaces adapted to engage and periodicallyremove the pressure roller from operative engagement with the peripheryof the master cylinder, and the cylinder carries means for cooperativelyengaging and holding the copy sheets into wetting contact with amoistening device.

A further and extremely important feature of the invention consists inthe novel construction and arrangement of the moistening device whichhas its moistem'ng terminus arranged in a position elevated above asupply well from which the moistening medium is conducted by capillaryattraction and the moistening fluid is automatically fed to a Well ortrap receptacle.

A still further feature of importance consists .in the novel simplicityof means carried by the master cylinder for gripping and holding themaster sheet which is cooperative with manual means for effecting therelease of the master sheet.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of our improvedduplieating machine.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal mid-sectional view and partelevation of the machine.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View taken on the line 3--3 of Figure2.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the moistening device having parts thereofbroken away to illustrate internal and hidden portions.

Figure 5 is an enlarged cross sectional detail taken through thesheet-moistening device and a portion of the master cylinder andpressure roller.

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional detail through one end of the cylinderand the frame showing the driving connection between the crank drive andthe cylinder and the means for operating the master sheet gripping bar.

Figure 7 is a longitudinal broken sectional View of the master cylindershowing the means for holding a cam in place.

Figure 8 is a part end elevation and part sectional View of the mastercylinder showing one of the cams.

Figure 9 is a sectional and part elevational view showing a modifiedarrangement of cams in the master cylinder for operating the pressureroller.

In the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawings the frame isformed of a pair of end panels I which are spaced apart and rigidlyconnected by a plurality of cross bars 2. Each of the and panels isprovided with a boss 3 in which a shaft 4 is journalled and said shafthas mounted thereon a spur gear 5 which meshes with a pinion 6 mountedon a short shaft '5 journalled in the upper part of one of the bosses 3and upon the outer end of which is secured a crank 8 or other drivingmeans.

The printing or master cylinder 8 is concentrically mounted on andsecured to the shaft 4 so that upon the turning of the crank t3 themaster cylinder will be rotated through the medium of the gears 5 and 6.

A shallow L-shaped slot 10 is formed in the perimeter of the cylinder 9and extends from endto-end thereof and communicates with radial slots IIin the end Walls of the cylinder. An L-shaped bar I2 having its endsslidably mounted in the radial slots fits snugly within the L-shapedslot and the peripherally extending portion of the said bar is adaptedto grip and hold the end edge of the master sheet upon which the desiredprinting impression has been made with the printing media. The bar I2 isheld to its inward position by a suitable spring which is not shown.

A rod i3 is journalled in the ends of the cylinder 9 and has a pair ofshort curved fingers l4 mounted one on each end thereof, which fingersengage the ends of the bar l2. Mounted on one end of the cylinder on ajournal pin I5 is a cam member I 6 which has a finger ll at the innerend engaging one of the fingers l4. This cam is adapted to be engaged bya sliding bolt l'l, Figure 6, mounted in one end of the casing, whichbolt is adapted to be pressed in by the finger of the operator, so thatas the cylinder revolves the cam will engage the bolt and be tipped soas to swing the fingers l4 upwardly to lift the bar l2 out of its slotto release the master sheet.

After the release of the master sheet and the insertion of a new one, soas to engage the bar I2, the cam passes under the bolt and the bar l2being spring-actuated moves inwardly to grip the new sheet.

As the cylinders rotation continues the bolt IT is engaged by a lugmember [8 secured to the end of the cylinder which has a bevelled outerportion which engages the inner end of the bolt and pushes it outwardlyso that it will not engage the cam l9 until it is again pressed inwardlyby the operator.

Mounted on one end of the cylinder shaft 4 is a disc I9 is provided witha notch in its periphery. This notch is engaged by a roller Zl mountedon a pivotal arm 22 which is spring-held by the spring 23 in closeengagement with the disc. When the roller drops into the notch it formsa positive positioning stop for the cylinder and the operator has adefinite indication that the cylinder is in the proper position for thefeeding in of a copy sheet.

It will be noted that a transverse plate 24 extends between the endpanels of the frame structure near the top and this is above thecylinder. This plate is formed with a pair of 110mgitudinal slots 25 inwhich clamping bolts 26 are mounted which extend through and grip theedge guide members 26 which are used in properly positioning the mastersheet when it is being inserted into engagement with the bar l2.

A pressure roller 21 is mounted on a spindle which is supported onpivotal arms 28 mounted on pivots 29 extending inwardly from the endpanels I below the master cylinder 9. The free ends of the arms 28 areengaged by adjustably mounted springs 29 which hold the surface of theroller in close engaging contact with the surface of the cylinder sothat when a sheet of paper is fed in between the rotated cylinder 9 andthe pressure roller 21 the said sheet will be held in close engaging andpressure printing contact with the master sheet carried by the mastercylinder.

The cylinder 9 has mountedon its perimeter adjacent to each end a pairof cam members 30. These are preferably made removable each having adowel pin 3| arranged adjacent to each end which fit into radial holesin the cylinder, and the outer edge of the cam is bevelled and isengaged by sliding clamp members 32 mounted in transverse slots in thecylinder and engaging the bevelled edges of the cams.

are adapted to engage and lift the pressure roller from contact with themaster cylinder for a portion of a revolution to permit the rotation ofthe master sheet to a predetermined position and to permit the insertionof the copy sheet. When the copy sheet has been inserted between themaster sheet mounted on the cylinder and the pressure roller the camtrack then drops the pressure roller into contact and the continuedrotation of the cylinder presses the copy sheet against the master sheetand an impression is taken therefrom.

These cams 7 When the machine is to be used for taking a number ofduplicate copies of say a letter or a circular then it is desirable toremove the cams and the pressure roller will remain in constant contactand the copy sheets can be fed in to the point of contact of thepressure roller and cylinder so that they will then be gripped betweenthe two and carried through and print the full circumference ofcylinder.

A modification of this arrangement of cam manipulation of the pressureroller is found in Figure 9 wherein the cam members are preferablyformed by a pair of arc-shaped members hinged together and each isprovided with a cam member 33 which is provided with a quadrangle web34, which webs are loosely mounted back of lugs 35 mounted on the shaft4.

A pair of eccentric members 36 are suitably journalled on the innersides of the ends of the master cylinder. These are adapted to berotated to move the cams outwardly to the operating position asillustrated in Figure 9, or they may be rotated to the position shown indotted lines which will allow the cams to recede inward under the pullof the springs 31 so that no cam surfaces will be projecting and thepressure roller will operate in continuous contact with the cylinder.

The construction of the device for handling and printing the copy sheetsas herein described is extremely simple and inexpensive.

It is an important feature of the present invention to provide a noveland effective form of moistening device to apply the spirit moistener tothe surface of the copy sheets that are being fed in to engage themaster sheet and to be printed thereby.

Between the end panels I is arranged a tray member 38 which ispreferably formed of sheet metal and has upwardly extending side walls39 which have ribs 40 sliding into slots in the panels which are engagedand held by thumb screws 4|. The tray when thus positioned has a slightupward slope toward the master cylinder 9 and it also is provided with aback flange 42 and a depression or well 43 is formed in the bottomthereof midway between its end walls.

A second tray member 44 is spaced slightly above the top of the innerportion of the tray 38 and extends inwardly therebeyond and overlappingthis inner tray member is a sheet metal guard 45 which has its inwardedge adjacent to the master cylinder curved downwardly and spaced fromthe inward edge of the tray 44, leav ing a narrow slot extendingcompletely across between the end panels I.

A wick member 46 has a looped portion extending around and partlyembedded in the depression 43 and this wick extends longitudinally andis provided with a plurality of enlarged portions 41 as is shownparticularly in Figure 4, and these portions rest upon a'pad 48 arrangedbetween the tray 44 and the overlapping guard 45.

The pad 48 is preferably covered with chamois skin and a part of thisextends through the slot formed between the inner end of the member 45and the tray 44 and is adapted to engage and rub against the surface ofthe paper sheets as they are passed inwardly.

A guard plate 49 extends over the top of the branched wick member tocover same and prevent undue evaporation and also to protect it fromdirt.

A tank as, preferably of rectangular shape, is supported between the endpanels above the tray 38 and it has a nozzle member extending downwardlytherefrom into the depression 43 in the tray 38. This nozzle has aliquid feed opening 52 leading from the interior of the tank into thedepression 43 and it also has a small air duct 53 which is sealed by theliquid contained in the depression and as the liquid evaporates orbecomes dispersed by means of the wick, a small quantity of air findsingress through the air duct into the tank and permits the escape of afurther small quantity of the liquid. A regulating set screw 54 isarranged in the liquid passage leading to the depression or well,

It will be readily understood that, with the highly volatile liquidclosely enclosed within a tank which only has a very small opening inthe bottom sealed by a fluid seal, the liquid will be conserved in thebest possible manner.

The tray structure is definitely arranged with the inner ends slantingupwardly toward the master cylinder to prevent the liquid ink solventfrom flowing down and away on escape surfaces. A plate 55 is mounted ona bar 56 which is pivoted at the ends to form a tiltable mounting forthe plate and a lever 57 is connected to said bar and extends upalongside one end of the master cylinder and is engaged by a pin 58projecting from the end of the master cylinder. This pin is arranged soas to engage the lever at a period while the peripheral cam on themaster cylinder is holding the pressure roller away from contact withits peripheral surface. A slight movement of the cylinder moves thelever downwardly to swing the plate 55 away from the slot in themoistening device so that a sheet of paper may be passed therethrough toengage the surface of the printing cylinder. A slightly further movementmoves the pin past the lever allowing the plate 55 to swing upwardlythrough the urge of the spring 59 connected to the lower end of thelever, and said plate 55 has a rounded surface which presses the paperagainst the moist surface of the chamois-covered pad 48.

Immediately following the release of the lever the peripheral cams ofthe master cylinder allow the pressure roller to move into pressurerelation with the cylinder surface. Consequently the sheet of copy paperwhich has been moistened by contact with the moistening pad is held inrolling gripping contact between the master sheet overlying the cylinderand the pressure roller and an impression is made on the copy sheet.

A tray member 60 is mounted adjacent to and slightly beneath the inwardend of the tray 38, its inner edge extending close to the member 55.This tray is adapted to form a guide over which the copy sheets to beprinted are passed. A suitable indicating pointer BI is mounted thereonand a weighted pivotal holder plate 62 is arranged between the sideflanges of the tray 60 under which the individual sheets of copy paperare fed.

In placing the sheet the operator simply advances the same in the tray60 until the rearward edge or other identifying point comes intoregister with the pointer BI and so that the advance edge enters thethroat between the inner edge of plate 44 and plate and as the plate 55is swung downwardly as above defined, the advance edge of the paper willstrike the downwardly sloping surface of the cylinder and be deflectedbetween the cylinder surface and the now retracted pressure roller 21 tobe instantly advanced with the cylinder when the cylinder cams clear thesaid roller.

In this way each successive sheet may be accurately positioned inrelation to the master sheet carried by the cylinder, and in practice itwill be found that the operator will become quite expert in placing thesheets and even if the sheet is positioned in relation to the pointerprior to opening of the plate 55 the slight buckling of the sheet willbe localized between the point of obstruction of the advance edge andthe weighted hold-down plate 62 so that the instant the obstruction isremoved, by downward swinging of the plate 55, the advance edge portionwill spring forwardly into position to be gripped between the cylinderand pressure roller so that the operator is afforded the maximum periodin which to place the sheet and may commence placing the subsequentsheet immediately the previously placed sheet has commenced its advancemovement.

From this description it will be readily appreciated that a machine suchas described may be manufactured at extremely low cost and it may beutilized to very great advantage in malting duplicates of invoices andfor copying letters and circulars.

Where the device is used for continuous form invoicing it will beunderstood that cams of a suitable length are arranged on the mastercylinder to hold the pressure roller from contact with the master sheetduring the periods when the movement of the copy sheet is delayed andthe master sheet continues its movement with out printing.

When duplicating other than continuous form invoice Work is to beaccomplished on the machine the cams may be removed, or, if theretractible type of cam is used, as illustrated in Figure 9, these maybe withdrawn.

In operating the device, the operator presses the bolt ll inwardly andupon the turning of the crank brings the cam l6 into engagementtherewith and the cam engaging the fingers I4 lifts the bar l2. A mastersheet which has been previously prepared is then placed between theguide lugs 26 carried by the member 24, which extends upwardly on oneside of the cylinder, and the edge of the master sheet is inserted intothe slot and in abutment with the bar I2.

A slight movement of the cylinder by turning the crank moves the cam l6to release the bar I: and it is spring-actuated to move inwardly andgrip the edge of the master sheet. The master sheet is then folded backover the cylinder.

The cams mounted on the periphery of the cylinder lift the pressureroller from engagement with the surface of the cylinder and the copysheets are fed in from the tray 59 between the trays 38 and 44, and themember 55 is depressed by the engagement of the pin 58 with theoperating lever. The end of the sheet thus may be fed in freely andimmediately after its having passed into contact with the cylinder themember 55 rises upwardly and presses it against the moistening surfaceand the pressure roller engages the copy sheet and holds it against themaster sheet and the rotation of the master cylinder draws the sheetinwardly and effects the printing thereof.

When the printing has been completed the operator may shut off thesupply of volatile moistening fluid by simply turning the set screw 54to close the opening 52.

It will be appreciated that the machine may be carried about from placeto place quite readily and in the drawings it is shown arranged upon abase tray 63 which may be the bottom of a carrying casing if desired. Atany rate the tray forms a base which will protect the desk upon which amachine is placed from being marred by the dropping of the printingfluid or oil thereon.

It will be appreciated that this machine will enable the printing ofshort sheets of predetermined lengths, or, by the removal of the camsfrom the master cylinder, sheets of the full length of the cylinderperimeter may be printed.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. A duplicating machine comprising a frame, a master sheet holdingcylinder mounted in said frame, a pressure roller adapted to engage thesurface of said cylinder, means for directing sheets to be printedbetween said cylinder and roller, a tray for feeding the sheets to thecylinder having an upwardly inclined inner end, a pivotal plate arrangedat the inward end of said tray and forming a sheet-guiding continuationof the latter, a tray spaced above the aforesaid tray presenting amoisture-receiving depression at its lowermost point and inclinedupwardly from the moisture-receiving depression toward the cylinder, amoistening pad supported from said upper tray, means for feedingmoistening fluid to said pad from the said moisture-receivingdepression, and means for periodically moving said pivotal plate intopressure relation with said moistening pad.

2. A duplicating machine comprising a frame, a master sheet holdingcylinder mounted in said frame, a pressure roller adapted to engage thesurface of said cylinder, means for directing sheets to be printedbetween said cylinder and roller, a tray for feeding the sheets to thecylinder having an upwardly inclined inner end, a pivotal plate arrangedat the inward end of said tray, a moisture-receiving tray spaced abovethe aforesaid tray and inclined upwardly toward the cylinder, amoistening pad holder supported above and spaced from said upper trayand having a slot at its inner end, a moistening pad, a wick leadingfrom said upper tray to said pad, means for feeding moisture to saidwick, and means for periodically moving said pivotal plate into pressurerelation with said moistening pad.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 in which the upper tray is providedwith a well, a moisture holder supported above said upper tray having anozzle extending downwardly into said well,

said nozzle having a moisture hole and an air hole leading from theinterior of the holder to the extremity of the nozzle.

4. A device as claimed in claim 2 in which the upper tray is providedwith a well, and a closed casing is removably mounted above said trayand is provided with openings leading through a nozzle into said well,means being arranged to control the flow of moisture through one of saidopenings,

5. In a duplicating machine, a frame, a master sheet holding cylinderrotatably mounted and having a slot extending longitudinally of itsperiphery, a master sheet gripper bar slidably mounted andspring-operated in said slot to move radially, a rod mounted in thecylinder ends having fingers at the ends engaging said gripper bar, acam pivotally mounted on one end of the cylinder and engaging one ofsaid fingers, a manually operable bolt slidably arranged in the frameadapted to engage said cam in the operation of the cylinder to operatesaid bar to release the master sheet gripped thereby, and means on thecylinder for retracting said bolt on a further movement of the cylinder.

6. In a duplicating machine the combination with a cylinder forsupporting a master sheet, pressure roller means co-operating therewithand means for moistening copy sheets in passage to said cylinder, ofmeans carried by said cylinder for periodically retracting said pressureroller means from the cylinder as the cylinder rotates, and means onsaid cylinder for selectively withdrawing the aforesaid means fromoperation.

7. A duplicating machine as claimed in claim 6, in which said pressureroller retracting means includes cam members displaceably mounted on thecylinder to be projected into co-operative relation to the pressureroller means or retracted clear thereof in accordance with the class ofwork being handled.

8. In a duplicating machine of the class described, having a cylinderfor supporting a master sheet, pressure roller means co-operatingtherewith and means for moistening copy sheets in passage to saidcylinder, means carried by said cylinder for periodically retractingsaid pressure roller means from the cylinder as the cylinder rotates,said latter means including cam members detachably and interchangeablyfitted in the periphery of said cylinder, and means for detachablyretaining said cam members in place including clamp members slidable inthe cylinder and having wedging co-operation with said cam members.

9. A duplicating machine as claimed in claim 6 in which said pressureroller retracting means includes cam members displaceable substantiallyradially in the cylinder, spring means for urging said cam membersinwardly, and cam means for moving said cam members outwardly.

ROBERT J. COPELAND. ERNEST J. BLOORE.

